At iUniversity Prep, students get to enjoy multiple benefits of virtual schooling, including the ability to use Google Chat to communicate with teachers and their peers. Thanks to the school’s online nature, communication is extremely convenient. With that being said, the virtual nature of the school can feel isolating for many because it doesn’t have the same face-to-face interactions present at brick and mortar schools. In order to solve this issue that many face, iUP holds multiple in-person meetups throughout the state of Texas, open to all students at the school. Of course, if you are a student at iUP, you might be asking yourself: “But why would I want to go to one of these?” From granting a rare opportunity to interact with teachers and peers face to face to commemorating special occasions, there are many good reasons to attend one of iUP’s many in-person events.
Getting To Know iUP Better
Perhaps the biggest reason why you should attend one of iUP’s in-person events is because it gives you an opportunity to see your teachers and peers face-to-face and interact with them and get to know them in a way that Google Chat alone could never offer. Face to face interaction is essential, and for middle school and high school students, these interactions would typically be happening at school. Because of how different the environment is at iUP, those interactions don’t happen in the same natural way that they do at brick and mortar schools, which would be a disadvantage of going to iUP if it weren’t for in-person events being held.
Aidan McIntosh, an 11th grader at iUP, said that he liked Homecoming in particular because it gave him the opportunity to hang out with his friends in-person instead of online. Fellow 11th grader Issac Daniel said that he also enjoys the social aspect of in-person events, particularly stating that there were other juniors he could “talk to and socialize with”. Although in-person socialization does not occur at iUP as much as it would in a brick and mortar environment, iUP’s meetups makes those interactions possible in a way that’s perhaps more meaningful as well, with every event having it’s own thing that makes it special to iUP’s student body.
The Academic Benefits
If you want any assistance from your teachers to help you complete your work, the solution can be found even at iUP meetups. In fact, the school holds in-person events known as Sip N Studys specifically for the purpose of teachers helping students out. At iUP, every student has their own way of learning that works best for them, and for some, that could happen to be having the teachers right in front of them to offer guidance. These events are held at coffee shops all across the state of Texas, so make sure to check the Virtual Vine for one near you.
There’s A Location Just About Anywhere
The biggest challenge associated with iUP’s in-person events is that iUP is a school with students all over the state of Texas, meaning that not every student can simply show up to the same event. To compensate for this, there are meet-ups all across the state, so no matter where you are in Texas, iUP will try to make sure there’s an event close to you. For instance, this year’s Back To School Bash was held in multiple locations across the state, with there being events in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Because of this, students all across the state were still able to go attend a back to school event as a result of there being multiple events across Texas.
Every Event Is Unique
Another thing that iUP students ask about is what all in-person events are held. The answer to that question is that there’s a wide variety of events held to cater to many different students and their interests. There’s the aforementioned Sip N Study meetups at coffee shops, which are typically more lowkey, but there are bigger events held such as the Back To School bash at the beginning of every school year, which saw massive attendance across the state this year. In addition, there’s the Owl Expo at the end of every school year meant to celebrate the achievements and creations of iUP’s student body. At the Owl Expo, the school’s NJHS and NHS inductions happen, along with iHoot’s annual end of year awards. The Owl Expo also gives clubs such as iHoot itself an opportunity to have their own booths to showcase what they do, with iHoot having an annual print edition newspaper handed out at the Owl Expo to showcase the best articles and creative works from across the school year.
In between the back to school and end of year events, there’s iUP’s newest and most popular in-person event to date: Homecoming. iUP’s first ever Homecoming at Chicken N Pickle was held on November 1st and saw massive turnout. Hundreds of students from all across the state attended Homecoming, and it was evident even from the perspective of iUP students that attended. As 11th grader Isabelle duPlessis observed, Homecoming was “on a completely different scale” compared to other in-person events, from the amount of people that showed up to the size of the event space itself. There are smaller events that happen more often throughout the year, including the monthly Perky Pals events at Harvest Hall held by Owl Pals.
iUP Student’s Opinions
It’s important to hear the opinions of other iUP students regarding in-person events and what all they can offer for others that are interested in attending. Out of multiple iUP students who were surveyed, all have attended iUP meetups in the past such as Homecoming, the Back To School Bash, Perky Pals, and other smaller in-person events. Out of these events, the majority of students said that their favorite was Homecoming, with the Back To School bash also being a favorite among other iUP students. Regarding Homecoming, Isabelle duPlessis said it was her favorite event to attend because “there were a lot of different things to do”, such as playing pickleball, making mums, and attending the high school dance, with the variety of activities being something she said she “especially loved” about Homecoming. 11th grader Kaden Berg also said he enjoyed Homecoming, although it was the only in person event he attended. He said that he enjoyed Homecoming because he got to “see new people, learn faces, and generally enjoy the atmosphere provided by the people there”. As for iUP student Tessa Bradley, her favorite event was this year’s Back To School Bash in Houston because the location was “pretty cool” and she got to see some of her fellow classmates.
Conclusion
Because of how unique our school is, in-person events at iUP take a lot into consideration including the locations of students and the different needs that they have. As a result of this, every one of the school’s in person events provides something different each time, ranging from the smaller and more specific events to the massive events such as Homecoming where everyone can find something that they can enjoy all in one place. No matter what, there’s bound to be an in-person event that’s just right for you, and the only step left is to come out and attend one of these events with the rest of iUP.
